Ihyaaud Deen An Effort to Revive Deen in Totality
The Second Narration (continued):
Hazrat Abu Zar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) said (continuing the incident of his embracing Islam):
One bright, moonlit night, I was by the Ka‘bah when the people of Makkah Mukarramah were sound asleep. Myself aside, there were only two women present and they were making tawaaf. Whenever these women would pass by the two idols, Isaaf and Naa’ilah, they would call out to them in supplication. As they drew close to me, I called out to them in mockery of their idols, “Marry one to the other!” My statement drew no response, however, as they continued calling out to their idols in supplication. The next time they came close to me, I called out, “Your idol has a private part of wood!” except that I did not use an ambiguous word indicating towards it but rather used an explicit word to refer to the private part. This statement finally excited a response as the two women now began to go about calling out in supplication to their idols for me to be destroyed and were proclaiming, “If only some of our people were here to punish you!”
At that point, Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) and Hazrat Abu Bakr (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) approached and saw the women in distress. They asked the women what the matter was to which they complained about a Saabi’ (person who has renounced idol worship) who was by the Ka‘bah. Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) and Hazrat Abu Bakr (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) asked them as to what I had said to cause them such distress to which they exclaimed, “It is such a filthy statement that it fills our mouth! (i.e.we cannot utter it)” Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) and Hazrat Abu Bakr (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) then went to the Hajr-e-Aswad and made Istilaam after which they made tawaaf and performed salaah. After Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) completed his salaah, I greeted him with the words of salaam and I was the first person to greet Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) with the greeting of salaam. Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) thereafter asked me who I was to which I replied, “I am from the tribe of Ghifaar.” On hearing this, Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) placed his blessed fingers on his forehead. I became worried and thought, “He (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) is unhappy that I have attributed myself to the Ghifaar clan” and so I went forward to hold the hand of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam). However, Hazrat Abu Bakr (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) stopped me from doing so as he knew better than me how to conduct before Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam). Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) thereafter raised his mubaarak head and asked me, “How long have you been here?” I replied, “I have been here for the past 30 days and nights.” Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) then enquired, “Who has been feeding you?” I replied, “I have had no food besides the water of Zamzam which has caused me to gain such weight that my belly has developed folds and I never felt the pangs and weakness of hunger.” Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) said, “It is full of barakah (blessing). It can satiate a person just as food does.” Hazrat Abu Bakr (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) thereafter asked, “O Rasul of Allah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam)! Allow me to feed him tonight.” Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) and Hazrat Abu Bakr (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) then proceeded with me accompanying them until Hazrat Abu Bakr (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) came to a door which he opened. He brought us the raisins of Taa’if and this was the first food which I ate in Makkah Mukarramah. I thereafter remained in Makkah Mukarramah for some time.
When I came back to Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam), he said to me, “I have been shown (in a dream) a land which has many date palms. I feel that it can only be Yathrib (Madinah Munawwarah i.e. the time will soon come for me to make hijrah to Madinah Munawwarah). Will you convey the message of Islam to your clan on my behalf? Perhaps Allah Ta‘ala will benefit them with Islam through you and reward you through them.”
I therefore returned to my brother, Unais, who asked me what had transpired in Makkah Mukarramah. I replied, “I have accepted Islam and verified that he (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) is the true messenger of Allah.” Unais replied, “I have also accepted Islam and verified that he (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) is the true Nabi.” We thereafter went to our mother who expressed the exact same sentiments as we had and professed that she had also accepted Islam.
We thereafter travelled back to our clan, the Ghifaar, and invited them to embrace Islam. Half the clan immediately embraced Islam and the leader, Iymaa’ bin Rakhasah Al-Ghifaari would lead them in salaah. The remaining half of our clan said that they would accept Islam when Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) migrated to Madinah Munawwarah. When Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) made Hijrah to Madinah Munawwarah, they accordingly embraced Islam. The tribe of Aslam also arrived at that time and said to Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam), “O Rasul of Allah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam)! They are our brothers. We accept Islam as they have.” Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) thereafter made du‘aa for the clans of Ghifaar and Aslam saying, “May Allah forgive Ghifaar and grant safety to Aslam.”
(Saheeh Muslim #2473)
